Deputy Adam Cullen was among the first on the scene last year when Yi-Chao Wang, a 25-year-old visiting scholar from China, was struck by a car while riding his bicycle home at night from a laboratory on the Stanford campus. Wang was not wearing a helmet. He died of his serious head injuries after lingering in a coma for two weeks.

“Every day, we struggle with the problem that students don’t want to wear helmets,” said Deputy Cullen, a member of Stanford’s Department of Public Safety. Unlike bike lights, helmets are not required equipment for riders aged 18 and over. Since 2005, Deputy Cullen said, his department has investigated more than 200 bike accidents.

Because there is no law requiring students to wear bike helmets, one possible solution is to design a helmet that students will want to wear. Continue Reading >>